Thursday, November 29, 2012

Accomplishing any goal requires some level of sacrifice. I try to swallow this paradigm as I write a cheque for $5500 and sign an athlete contract for attending my first senior Canadian National Team tour overseas. I have prepared and worked all summer and saved every dollar so I can afford this, but it still comes as a shock to my meager bank account.

It is a significant investment and I want to sincerely thank the National Firearms Association, Prince George Rod and Gun Club, the Prince George Ramada, the Caledonia Nordic Ski Club and Biathlon BC for trusting in my goals and contributing to make it possible! It is my dream to compete at the 2014 Olympic Winter Games and this is not the year to take any short cuts. I am biting the bullet (excuse the pun) and doing everything in my power to take advantage of every opportunity I have to achieve my goals this year and build my road for 2014.

I have a thousand things to do in the next few days before I leave for Italy then Germany, Estonia and Russia but in the craze I try to find some calm knowing this is what it’s all about. I have trained so many hours and made so many sacrifices and this is why! For now my focus is on performing over the next six weeks and hopefully solidifying my spot on the team for European Championships at the end of February. Amidst inevitably being broke by the end of the season I couldn’t be more excited. I look forward to keeping you up to date along my travels and I am so grateful for my family, friends, coaches, team mates and sponsors support.

Team Canada

About Matt

I train as a full time athlete pursuing the best that I can be in my sport. I have been competing in Biathlon for sixteen years and am proud to call Prince George home. I spent most of my childhood at Otway Nordic Centre building jumps and learning to ski in the Jackrabbits ski program. I decided to pursue sport on a professional level in my last year of high school and have been committed to that dream since. I was runner up to qualifying for the Canadian Olympic Team in 2014 which really solidified my goal to make the Olympic dream true in 2018 (Pyeongchang, Korea). Taking that step requires a mix of being a little stubborn and completely passionate...both of which I have embraced heading forward!